I mean, like, cigarette, cigar or pipe smoke in a non-smoking environment? A lost loved one’s cologne or perfume in your house that you haven’t smelled in ages? Or maybe cookies or pie baking when your oven isn’t even on?

This is actually a sixth-sense ability, believe it or not. While most “woke folks” are bragging up the interesting visions they’ve experienced with their clairvoyant third-eye, or sharing what they heard spirit say, or what they felt when they entered an antique store or the cemetery down the street, it’s not so often that you hear people talking about mysterious odors.

Let’s face it, when it comes to sixth-sense abilities, clairvoyance (the ability to see with the third-eye) gets top billing. Visions, whether they be glimpses of the past, or future events, or of a lost loved one in spirit, are the “real deal.” The ability to hear spirit (clairaudience) is often brushed off as possible schizophrenia, so, of course, it’s not deemed as “woke” as clairvoyance until some facts are shared and the ability is proven reliable. Clairsentience (feeling) and claircognizance (knowing) are probably more widely experienced than clairgustance (tasting) and clairalience (smelling), but clairalience may be one of the first of your sixth-sense abilities to open up for you.

Why? Because it’s the least daunting.

As a kid, I could see, hear and feel spirit world like it was part of my normal world. For me, they blended together, and there was no separation. Somehow, I knew never to share what I saw and heard from spirit with parents or friends. Spirit never mentioned this to me; I just knew (claircognizance). Then middle school happened, and, being an empath, I was so wrapped up in feeling everyone’s hormonal emotions, that I did not experience spirit like I used to. At least not until college, when I lived in the most haunted building in Boston my freshman year, and witnessed a LOT of physical proof of paranormal activity (mostly still objects getting pushed around or shooting across my dorm room, even). Yeah, it was a bit creepy. Fortunately, I knew to set boundaries. Respect me and my stuff, and I will respect you.

I can’t say there weren’t any incidents after that, but I did my best to shut it out. I knew most spirits were either looking for acknowledgment or some kind of reaction (such as fear). I refused to give it to them. And, guess what… when you ignore them long enough, they leave you alone. I began to enjoy my peace and quiet for a good decade or so. I even got to a point where I was very ANTI psychic/spirit world. (I was drinking fluoridated tap water at the time, if that tells you anything.) I remember reading a book title about “opening up your sixth senses,” and I was like “hell to the NO!”

That’s not to say that I didn’t see or feel spirits trying to approach me; I did, but my response was always, “NO! Go AWAY!” Surprisingly, they respectfully retracted their energy, which, in retrospect, tells me they were benevolent beings.

My first memory of a clairalience experience (AKA: clairosmesis, clairolfaction, clairessence and clairscent) was in an empty church. I was helping the pastor set up for Sunday service on a Saturday evening. No one had been in the church at all that day. While setting up, the pastor went to her office to look for something, and I headed to the bathroom. When we both returned to the sanctuary, the room smelled strongly of a lit match – you know, that burnt wood matchstick scent. She looked at me funny and said, “did you light a candle?” I was like, “No, but it smells like a burnt match in here. I thought you lit something.”

We looked all around for evidence of matches or a burning candle, but found nothing. She chalked it up to a message from spirit, and I was like, *shrugs* “ermkay.” (Again, fluoride.)

My next clairalience experience happened a few years later. I had just pulled into my garage. Normally garages smell like petrol fumes when you pull into them. Or perhaps stale motor oil. Or maybe like dying grass if you just cut the lawn and store your mower in the garage. But they normally do NOT smell like perfume. And that’s what I smelled that day when I got out of my car after pulling into the garage: my grandmother’s Tabu.
Not only do I remember the scent, but I remember seeing the bottle on her dresser in my early childhood. The colors of the logo and the typeface still look similar today!

Scary sidenote: in looking for the above image, I read that Jean Charles made this perfume back in 1932 when he was instructed to “make a fragrance for a whore.”
WOW! I never knew my grandmother had a racy side. Although, I do recall seeing a glamour photo of her wearing a feather boa. Go G!

Anyway, getting back on track, this is what I mean by smelling something that is beyond normal for the environment you’re in. That’s how you know for sure you’re experiencing clairalience. Interestingly enough, I was back to well water at this time in my life, and so it began… tons of communication from spirit, which included the activation of ALL of the sixth-sense abilities mentioned above except clairgustance (taste). I’m not sure if I have ever experienced that. I chew a lot of gum, so it’s hard to say.

My spouse and I experienced a lot clairalience moments at the cottage we lived in a few years ago. Her grandfather smoked cigars, and we often smelled cigar smoke in our cottage, even though neither of us smoked. Her brother-in-law even noticed it when he was visiting one day. It was always just in one area of the house, and he smelled it as soon as he entered that area. He was like, “It’s just RIGHT HERE,” as he pointed to the area next to our coffee nook. “It’s not anywhere else in the house.” His blue eyes danced with excitement, as if he’d just found some kind of treasure.

“Sometimes we smell it over by the door to the deck, too,” I explained.

The cottage itself emanated its own share of disturbing aromas (usually dead rodent type odors), but there were distinct smells of cigar, pipe and cigarette smoke wafting through now and then, when the house was closed up tight for the winter. Of course, by that time, I was far more open to spirit than I had been back when I smelled that burnt match in the empty church.

So, yeah… clairalience! It’s a sixth-sense thing. You’ve probably experienced it more than you realize. And, for those who say they don’t have any sixth-sense abilities, this is one you probably DO have, but didn’t realize it, or maybe didn’t embrace it as an intuitive ability to sense spirit or beings beyond your perceivable realm.

What can we DO with clairalience?

Think of it as a building block to opening other sixth-sense abilities that help us experience 4D spirit world and beyond. When you smell something that is not part of your current physical environment, then you know something or someone beyond your physical realm is present. If you embrace this with welcoming energy, you may open yourself to something more, such as hearing a verbal message, or seeing an apparition, but most likely you will feel something first… or experience the claircognizant knowing of who is present by the signature scent of that loved one who has transitioned into spirit.

If, however, you react with fearfulness, it is likely your loved ones will withdraw and try again another day.

Hey, if you’ve ever had experiences with clairalience, please share in the comment section below. I’d love to hear about it!